Mistrial declared in Michael Avenatti's wire fraud case

The federal judge overseeing Michael J. Avenatti's wire fraud trial in Santa Ana declared a mistrial Tuesday morning, after finding that missing accounting software data prejudiced his opportunities to properly craft a defense.

"I find that prejudice occurred here in a number of ways. I think the defendant was denied an opportunity to craft his overall theory of the case and presentation, including opening statements by not having this additional material," Senior U.S. District Judge James V. Selna said.

The missing data was from accounting software seized from Avenatti's law firm. Prosecutors throughout the trial had said they did not have it. They found it after Selna ordered them to work through the weekend looking for it.

Selna stressed Tuesday that he did not believe assistant U.S. attorneys prosecuting Avenatti or a separate "taint" team of prosecutors assigned to look at data taken in a raid of Avenatti's office willfully concealed anything. Selna said he believed the government's taint team fairly acknowledged there may have been some short-cutting in the review process.

After the hearing Avenatti, who defended himself in court, thanked his lawyers who had advised him throughout the process.

"This has been an incredibly difficult journey for my family, for my children, for my friends, and lastly, for me," he said. "Today is a great day for the rule of law in the United States of America."

The judge scheduled a new trial to begin Oct. 12. USA v. Avenatti 19-cr-61 (C.D. Cal., filed April 10, 2019).